Friday, September 11, 2009

Crisp Soba Noodles (With Chicken) for Tyler Florence Fridays

It's OK, my little dish of Tyler's Crisp Soba Noodles knows that it won't win any beauty awards this week and is fine with it. There is just not a lot you can do to make pan-fried brown buckwheat noodles attractive! However, if there is an award for an easy, tasty dish, this recipe will be a contender. With Asian flavors and simple ingredients, it makes a good side dish or the foundation for a light meal.

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the soba noodles until done, about 3 to 5 minutes. Drain the noodles but do not rinse them. Drizzle the sesame oil over them and toss them well. Add the sesame seeds, scallions, cilantro, and ginger. Mix well to combine the ingredients.

Heat a non stick or cast iron pan over medium heat. Add a bit of sesame oil to the skillet. Layer the noodle mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan. Cook the noodles, stirring often, until they are brown and crispy, about 15 minutes. Serve as a side dish or use them as a garnish for soups or salads.

Notes/Results: Great! Good flavor with the ginger, sesame oil, scallions and cilantro. I made a half batch and lightened the oil up by about 1/2, which worked fine. I found it needed just a bit of salt so I threw in a couple splashes of low-sodium soy sauce which was perfect. The noodles have a nice texture, a little chewy (in a good way), combined with little bites of crispy. I topped my noodles with some sliced grilled chicken breast and with a small salad it made a perfect dinner. I would make this again.

You can check out what recipes our other Tyler Florence Fridays members picked this week and what they thought of them by going to the TFF site (here).

Our plan is to spend time cooking with different chefs and cooks, starting out with the Domestic Goddess herself, Nigella Lawson. There will be a different theme each week but you get to pick the recipes you want to make for each theme and can jump in for any of the themes you want to do. Fun & flexible! Check out the IHCC site (here) for more details and to see the theme we are starting of with. (No Nigella cookbooks? That's OK, the Food Network site has plenty of her recipes as does her own site (here), so problem solved!). Hope you join us!

Wow, those fried soba noodles look absolutely wonderful! One of my very favorite Chinese take-out dinners is called 'pan fried golden noodle' --it's a big mess of noodles (and for the life of my I can not find them at any Asian market, they are thick and golden and long like spaghetti with almost a spongy texture after they sop up the sauce, any ideas?), fried until crispy on the bottom and then covered in lots of veggies in a delicious sauce.

Sorry to go off on a tangent there, it's just one of those restaurant meals that I can't recreate at home and your crisp soba noodles had my wanting it :)

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About Me

Originally from the beautiful but rainy Pacific Northwest, I have been living in beautiful and (mostly) sunny Hawaii for the past 15 years. Foodie and Certified Health Coach--I love all things related to food and cooking. I especially like making healthy food that tastes great.